Aging Mines, Operational Hurdles Top EY’s 2027 Risk Ranking

The mining industry’s biggest risk for 2027 sits in its own pits, as operational complexity leads EY’s latest ranking of business risks and opportunities for mining and metals, ahead of capital, supply chains and rising costs. According to the consulting firm's recently published report, ore quality drives much of the concern. Twenty-nine percent of respondents named grade variability as their most significant operational complexity issue. EY said depletion leaves miners with fewer accessible or economic mine faces, narrowing their options when disruption hits.The strain already shows in producers’ numbers.For instance, lower grades at Sentinel in June helped push First Quantum Minerals' (TSX:FM,OTCPL:FQVLF) C1 cost, the cash cost of producing a pound of copper, to US$2.02 per pound. Codelco’s C1 cash costs reached US$2.08 per pound, up 46.89 percent from 2019, on equipment rental fees, unexpected maintenance, a seismic event at El Teniente and a stronger Chilean peso.For gold, a July 1 rock wall failure halted extraction at the Barnat open pit at Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM) Canadian Malartic complex. The company expects the failure to cut output by up to 150,000 ounces a…